Tri-City Chili Peppers make history with first-ever 'cosmic baseball' game (2024)

A glow stick — that’s the object that sparked a revolutionary idea in the mind of Chris Martin and led to a rather unorthodox baseball game that has taken over the internet.

Cosmic baseball.

The Tri-City Chili Peppers, a collegiate summer baseball team based out of Colonial Heights, made history on Saturday night at Shepherd Stadium playing under the lights, but not normal lights. Black lights.

Martin, the Chili Peppers founder and owner, came up with the idea for cosmic baseball thanks to a glow stick, but putting the plan into motion wasn’t exactly simple.

You can see in the dark thanks to glow sticks, but you can’t play baseball in the dark. Martin thought, “If we install black lights, I could play baseball.”

Tri-City began the process of trying to see if a company could make a black light to play baseball under. It certainly wasn’t an easy or normal request.

“When we went into the production of the black light, I honestly thought it was dead,” said Martin, a Chesterfield County native and Hampden-Sydney College alumnus. “I didn’t think it was happening anymore.”

His idea finally became a reality thanks to Federal Lighting. It took six months to create the nanometers — the measurement for wavelengths of visible light — required to light up the entire field.

There were 18 stem lights out on the stadium’s normal light poles.

The preparation for the idea of cosmic baseball started about a year ago, and it has come with plenty trials and a lot of changes even up to the morning before the game.

“We’re getting better and better every day, every year. And now, we’re seeing cosmic baseball,” Martin said. “The first time we saw it, it was just different. It was wild.”

Martin was most excited to see people react to cosmic baseball and said everything involved needs to be reactive in terms of lighting, from the fans’ shirts to the bat and the ball on the field.

The teams also had a reactive powder to put on their gloves and catchers’ gear. Additionally, players had reactive arm sleeves and jerseys that were created by baseball and softball uniform company 3N2.

As for the ball, the Chili Peppers actually made it themselves.

“Right now, it’s a blended material with a powder and a couple of other things we put together that created this really reactive baseball. It looks like a normal baseball. It’s really cool,” Martin said. “Everything from bat coloring and baseball coloring is constantly developing.”

Tri-City wants to continue to find things to make the event better. Martin joked that, theoretically, Saturday’s contest should be the worst cosmic baseball game ever.

The Chili Peppers took extra safety precautions in order to account for visibility concerns, including an L-screen in front of the pitcher.

The game between Tri-City and the Greenbrier Knights, a member of the Tidewater Summer League, started at 7 p.m. under completely normal conditions, but the crowd was larger than normal.

“(I’m most excited for) the environment. 2,000 fans (is) the most people I’ve ever pitched in front of,” said Sam Poore, Greenbrier’s starting pitcher and a James River High alumnus.

“There’s more adrenaline, maybe throwing a little harder. (I’m) really excited for the atmosphere.”

Nolan McCabe was the highlight of the normal portion of the night, sending a missile over the wall for a three-run home run for the Chili Peppers.

The night’s normal baseball ended 6-2 in favor of the Chili Peppers. Then at 9 p.m., it was time to get ready for the official switch to cosmic baseball.

Following a short break to prepare, it was time. As fans watched, the countdown ensued before suddenly, it was dark.

And on came the black lights, and “All Of The Lights,” a song by Ye, the musical artist formerly known as Kanye West, rang through the stadium as the Chili Peppers sprinted onto the field.

Tri-City sported a neon pink jersey, while the Knights appeared in neon green uniforms. Even the bases were lit up in different neon colors.

It was a sight like nothing we’ve seen before, with a glowing ball coming down to the plate before a glowing bat sent it out into a field of fluorescent jerseys.

Everything Martin had visualized was now a reality.

There was a home run derby in between each half inning, which is how Greenbrier scored the first point in cosmic baseball history. It was in the bottom of the first when the Chili Peppers got the party started.

Thomas Dale alumnus Matthew McGovern was the first base runner for the Chili Peppers thanks to a walk. The next batter was Mary Washington’s Alex Purgason, who sent a drive over the centerfielder to score McGovern, but that wasn’t all.

Purgason sprinted around the bases, running through the stop sign and sliding safely into home before getting bombarded by his Chili Peppers teammates.

The Chili Peppers went on to win 9-4 in the first-ever cosmic baseball game. And it won’t be the last.

Tri-City has three more cosmic games scheduled for this season on June 15, June 28 and July 20 — they are all sold out already.

There are plenty of other opportunities this season to watch the summer collegiate baseball team play at Shepherd Stadium under the normal lights against Coastal Plain League opponents.

The league has seen some big names come through, including Houston Astros pitcher and Goochland High alumnus Justin Verlander and Denver Broncos quarterback and Collegiate alumnus Russell Wilson, also a college standout on the baseball field.

The league has also been a hotbed for the University of Virginia. Former Cavaliers Ryan Zimmerman, Mark Reynolds, Chris Taylor and Zack Gelof played in the CPL ahead of their MLB careers.